ITALIAN SERIE A DAVID BECKHAM'S ARRIVAL IN MILAN: THE MILAN "Winter Collection" was on show last Saturday. He wore Dolce and Gabbano, while she wore a little electric blue cocktail dress of her own design complete with Chanel gloves and handbag.
Yes, folks, David and Victoria Beckham have finally arrived in Milan and, as we might have expected, the show got not so much on the road as on the catwalk.
In theory, 33-year-old Beckham has gone to play for AC Milan on loan from his US team Los Angeles Galaxy until March 8th. In many senses, this could be a mutually beneficial arrangement - Beckham needs top-level football to keep fit and earn his place in the England team for a February friendly with Spain, while, with Gennaro Gattuso out for the rest of the season and Andrea Pirlo currently coming back from injury, AC Milan badly need a touch of class and experience in midfield.
As always with Beckham, however, football considerations tend to come later. Even as the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was changing into his Dolce and Gabbano team suit for his official presentation to the Italian media at the San Siro stadium on Saturday night, lawyers were still fine-tuning the details of his new Milan contract.
Beckham, who already has a €3.9 million annual contract with the Galaxy, will earn a little extra pocket money with Milan, collecting a €100,000 monthly cheque as well as 50 per cent of the revenue generated by the sale of Beckham-Milan jerseys (he will wear number 32 by the way) and other gadgets. In the meantime, the Beckhams get to eat in some pretty swanky Milanese restaurants and stay in some very comfortable hotels. Last weekend, they stopped in the Visconti suite at the Four Seasons hotel where the asking price for one night reportedly is €7,900. The curious thing is that, despite all the hype and excess, Beckham still manages to come across as a decent guy. When he finally met the press on Saturday night, he gave a foot-perfect performance that ranged from the polite to the elegant to the downright enthusiastic. For a start, he opened up his press conference with a few words in Italian. It was not exactly fluent Italian but it was an elegant and much-appreciated gesture.
Secondly, he repeated time and again, how glad he was to have finally got a chance to play for one of the world's "greatest football clubs". He even indulged in a little poetic licence by saying that it has always been his dream to play for Milan.
On top of that, Beckham said more than once how he just "can't wait" to play for Milan, adding that he was particularly looking forward to playing alongside Milan's ageing senator, 40-year-old Paolo Maldini: "I played against Paolo Maldini, I know just how good he is . . ." Like the good professional, however, Beckham did add that he did not necessarily expect to get straight into the team. He would have to earn his place, like anyone else. Leaving here to go back to LA will be hard, he suggested, once again touching a tantalising consideration. Namely, if he does well here, will it be merely a 10-week stay back in top-flight football?
Brazilian defender Maicon earned Inter Milan a lucky 2-1 win over Siena on Saturday by scoring his second goal of the match seven minutes from time, although he was clearly offside. Inter's eighth consecutive league win ensures they have a six-point lead at the top of the standings going into Serie A's three-week winter break.
Juventus are in second place after a hard-fought 3-1 win at Atalanta yesterday while AC Milan move up to third after beating Udinese 5-1 last night.
